it doesn't strike me as particulary intelligent, but i think they don't want occasional smokers to buy larger quantities, they want them to stop.

Binge smoking is the future

Smokers often start their habit as teenagers. Those smaller packs might be especially marketed towards teenagers a lot of whom don't have that much cash to spend. I'm just guessing here though.

Apparently, according to the BBC coverage, the ban on 10-packs is because the packets are too small to fit a really impressively scary health warning onto.

Really. That's their reason.

Teenagers don't smoke tobacco, oscar.

^Says the pot head, pansy ass little bitch. :-)

Oh, trust me, compared to the rest of the smokers around here, I am not even close to being a pothead.

I don't smoke, but that's all just as ridiculous as the overly-sensitive folks in the US trying to ban cigarettes...yeah...

Cigarettes kill.

It's your choice, though.

But for the most amusing word on the whole matter, I defer to the great Betrand Russell...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80oLTiVW_lc

Cigarettes can kill more than the smoker.

"However I don't understand how they think they'll reduce smoking by forcing occasional smokers to buy cigarettes in larger quantities"

Probably the same way I don't buy tins of coffee because all I ever want is a single cup of coffee.

Banning 10 packets is crazy.

I gave up cigarettes 23 years ago, but would occassional smoke a single hamlet cigar maybe at the end of a night out. Most of the time I could buy just 1 cigar, but sometimes i had to buy pack of 5 to smoke just 1. The 'left overs' would be smoked over next few days but only because i had them, if i didn't have the 'left overs' I wouldn't have bought those extra 4. I ended up smoking cigars more regularly about 5-10 per day until i gave up completely. I think the unavailability of singles helped in some way to me smioking more.

I'm a smoker, and I wish the government would make it illegal already. I'm too weak to quit and they know what's best for me.

Actually not kidding on this one :P

Whilst I am delighted that menthol ciggies are being banned, did they give any reason why other than that they suck at similar levels to pot noodles and pop tarts?

The thinking is that younger smokers favor flavored tobacco.

I think this is one small step for man, and a tiny step for mankind.

We should calculate what the debate on this topic cost in tax payers' money and ask it back.

The only reason anyone smokes is because they are addicted to nicotine. Period.

Because getting millions of smokers to quit is a trivial issue, much less important than the latest reasons why angsty Dutchmen hate Obama.

"The only reason anyone smokes is because they are addicted to nicotine. Period. "

So you are the expert on all smokers, huh? That is the general reason chain smokers smoke. But lets take the social smoker who has a fag or two with friends. Or lets look at the typical high end cigar or pipe smoker who actually enjoys the taste of a quality cigar or pipe (like me). I put them down sometimes for months on end. If I were addicted to nicotine, I couldn't do that. So your statement is, quite honestly, full of shit.

@ Putin

Seriously? The only people I have ever seen smoking menthols have been grannies. I admit they were the sort of grannies with dyed hair and an impressive collection of tattoos, but relatively easy to tell apart from teenagers nonetheless. They'll be classifying Babycham as an alco-pop next.

Well good thing policy is not based on what Octavious sees and is instead based on marketing data.

"The only reason anyone smokes is because they are addicted to nicotine. Period."

Obviously, and the only reason anyone drinks beer is because they are addicted to alcohol. Also, the only reason anyone goes snowboarding is because they are addicted to adrenalin.

And let's not forget, the only reason anyone posts dumb shit on this forum is because they are addicted to ridicule. You should get some treatment for that Rainbow.

"And let's not forget, the only reason anyone posts dumb shit on this forum is because they are addicted to ridicule."

Well played, sir.

The only reason anyone smokes is because they are addicted to nicotine. Period.

not true @rainbow WTF do you know about smokers----that might end up being the reason they have a hard time quitting but that is not they started smoking

Sorry, Rainbow Candy, but you're mistaken. About once or twice a month, I'll smoke 4-5 cigarettes in a single evening, and then not smoke again for at least two weeks - despite having purchased a 10-pack and therefore still having cigarettes close at hand. If I was addicted, I would smoke them.

@ Putin: I'm honestly not sure if your post about tins of coffee was sarcastic or not.

If you're *not* being sarcastic... Are you saying you agree with the policy, and you think that banning 10-packs will reduce smoking? Do you think that we could reduce alcoholism by banning the sale of beer in half-pints?

(Because I *honestly* don't see how you reduce the consumption of something by forcing people to buy more of it)

No, I'm not being sarcastic. If your only choice is between not buying something, and buying a large quantity of it for a larger amount of money, then chances are you're not going to bother buying it. Why bother paying 6-7 dollars for a 20-pack of cigarettes (or however much they cost on average in the EU) when all you want is a couple?

And since new smokers, I would imagine, get started with smoking via 'testing it out' with one or two, then reducing the availability of small packs is going to eliminate that temptation. This whole business about 'binge smoking' is an absurd complaint.

Because they're not going to want to pay the extra money to buy the large quantities of it. Why doesn't everybody shop at bulk food stores? Because people don't want to buy 50 gallon jars of mayonnaise and 25 boxes of cereal.

I would probably be much more tempted to smoke if buying cigarettes in singles was widely available. As it is, almost every time I go to one particular bar that sells singles and have had a few to drink, I smoke. But I'm sure as hell not going to blow 7 bucks on a 20-pack.